Iran ready to assist in resolving conflict between Houthis and Saudi Arabia

TUNIS, October 17. /TASS/. Iran is ready to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and Saudi Arabia if they make such a request, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

Baghaei noted the need to resolve the disagreements between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis through dialogue and diplomacy. According to him, the events of the past 12 years shown that external interference, military methods, and blockades do not allow the Yemeni problem to be solved. He also rejected claims about Tehran’s involvement in the Ansar Allah attacks on Saudi Arabia. "The armed forces of Yemen (the Houthis -- TASS) are acting based on their own interests and assessments," the diplomat said, adding that Iran does not consider further escalation beneficial for any of the parties.

According to Baghaei, the settlement requires respect for Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity, an end to interference in its internal affairs and the lifting of the air and sea blockade.

The armed confrontation between the Houthis and government forces has been going on since August 2014. In September of that year, the Ansar Allah movement established control over the country’s capital Sana’a, and advanced southward. In March 2015, at the request of the then Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the conflict on the side of the government; the coalition declared its goal to be the restoration of the authority of the country’s internationally recognized leadership.

In early August 2016, the Ansar Allah movement intensified its offensive in the southwest of the country, and in September it established control over the port city of Mocha and the territories with access to the Bab·el·Mandeb Strait in western Yemen. On October 5, Rashad Mohammed al·Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, announced the launch of a large·scale military operation called the "Dawn of Yemen" to liberate the capital from the rebels; the operation is being carried out with the support of the coalition.